Coronavirus (COVID-19): event update

In light of the current situation, you may be waiting for certainty around this year’s Williams BMW Rochdale Half Marathon, 10K & Fun Run. With the event not taking place until 4 October 2020, we fully expect our races will go ahead as planned. The situation is, however, being closely monitored and if there are any changes we’ll update you as soon as we can.

About the races

​Williams BMW Rochdale​​​ Half Marathon, 10K and 1-mile Fun Run returns for its 6th year​. It’s one of the highlights of our sporting calendar and has already raised tens of thousands of pounds for local and national charities.

All courses will be fully marshalled, traffic free, signed and have water stations at regular intervals. All runs are chip timed. There'll be a medal and technical t-shirt for completing the half marathon and 10K. The Fun Run is suitable for all the family - you can walk, jog, skip, wear fancy dress - and entrants receive a great quality medal.

Enter the races as an individual or a team

Online entries are open for the half marathon, 10K and fun run until 12midnight on Monday, 28 September 2020. Entries for the Fun Run will open in June 2020.

The minimum age for entering:

The Half Marathon - 17 years old on Sunday, 4 October 2020

The 10K - 16 years old on Sunday, 4 October 2020

The Fun Run - 4 years old on Sunday, 4 October 2020

Corporate entries​

Our corporate package enables ​​a company to pay for and administer entries for their staff. For every 10 entries you'll also get a FREE place. Running alongside your workmates can be a lot of fun and this is a great way to inspire a workplace, set a challenge and motivate employees to be active and take part in this great event.

Start times for Fun Run, Half Marathon and 10K

Prize fund

Your race number

You can pick up your race number on Saturday, 3 October 2020 from Number One Riverside between 10.30am and 3pm, or on the morning of the event at Rochdale Town Hall between 8am and 9.30am.

See the routes on video

View the routes for the half marathon and 10K. Here's what happened when we tried out the courses with a BMW Z4, 3 Series, i3 and BMW Cruise Mountain Bike. Whether you're running or spectating, it's a great tour of historic Rochdale and some stunning countryside.

Terms and conditions for taking part in a race

There'll be a cut-off time of 3 hours for completion from the start of the half marathon.​

For your own safety, the safety of other runners and members of the public, the wearing of head or earphones or similar device is not permitted in this event. Automatic disqualification from race results may follow for any competitors ignoring this instruction.

Stay up-to-date and share through social media

Whichever run you choose, you'll be starting and finishing at the stunning Rochdale Town Hall, one of the finest buildings in Europe.

Our traffic-free courses retain an exciting and varied feel, taking you on a tour of our historic town and breath-taking countryside.

Half Marathon route

​The half marathon leaves the town hall along the Esplanade and runs the edge of Broadfield Park, before heading through Deeplish to the Rochdale Canal at Oldham Road Basin. The route then heads past Kingsway Business Park and Smithy Bridge along the canal. Close to the Waterside Restaurant the route leaves the tow path and heads up Hollingworth Road towards Hollingworth Lake, making a clockwise loop of the lake. It then returns down Hollingworth Road and back on to the canal.

The race retraces its outward route from the town hall until it reaches Broadfield Park, where runners will go through the park before re-joining the Esplanade for the final sprint to the finish line.​​​

10K route

​​​The 10K follows the same route as the half marathon on to the canal, but leaves the canal at the swing bridge at Kingsway Business Park, making a loop of pleasant cycleways, before returning to the canal and the same finishing route as the half marathon.

Fun Run route

​​A stunning course and lots of fun. The Williams BMW Fun Run is suitable for all the family, whether you're raising money for a worthwhile cause, remembering a loved one or simply keeping active. Mums, dads, toddlers, groups running together, fancy dress, music and fabulous fun!!

The 1-mile route sets out from Rochdale Town Hall and up into the beautiful Broadfield Park, taking a very scenic route around the award winning historic grounds. There's a steep challenging climb up past the John Bright statue before entering the park. While the rest of the course climbs gradually, once you reach the bandstand it’s all downhill to The Esplanade for the return to the finish line at the town hall.

"Lively atmosphere in front of the town hall thanks to announcer
Dave Sweetmore".

"Superb, great route and organisation".

"Loved the route along the canal and around the lake".

"Very family friendly".

"Fantastic".

"Well organised, good crowd".

"Fantastic. Course was great and lovely to get into the countryside. Everyone was very friendly and brilliantly organised so not too much hanging around".

"Brilliant event, well organised and lovely route".

"Well organised, nice scenic course. Fantastic marshals".

"Well organised event and priced appropriately".

"Really enjoyed it - beautiful route, really well organised, lots of helpful information beforehand, great atmosphere on the day".

"Excellent. Well organised. Scenic route. Fantastic volunteers, especially at the water breaks".

"I thoroughly enjoyed the half marathon. My first for 20 years. Organisation was good. Car parking, bag drop and marshalling was excellent. Time keeping was spot on".

"I enjoyed completing my local 10K. To date it has been my favourite 10K. I thought the atmosphere was great starting after hearing the chimes from the town hall. The route was scenic unlike Salford 10K and We Love Manchester 10K. I will be running it again next year. The bag drop and picking up your numbers was very well managed, basically I loved the event".

"I thought the event was extremely well organised with lots of helpful and friendly marshals along the route. Although the start and first half mile was fairly narrow and cramped, the course then opened up and was really good. I enjoyed running along the canal and around Hollingworth Lake. A much improved route than 2015 when I last ran Rochdale and I hope the course stays the same for next year".

"Can't wait for the next one. The event showcased Rochdale, my town, I loved it. Organisation and Marshalls were excellent. Atmosphere was great especially with the long open run to the finish in front of the Town Hall. Race start and finish banners and time displays looked professional. Great to have prestigious brand BMW as sponsors, with their stand showcasing their cars. T shirt great. Rochdale AFC involved the kids with their penalty shoot out. Area in front of town hall looked great. Sports physios looked to be very popular. Dave Sweetmore provided great music".

"Very well organised. The fun run event was fantastic for the kids and very good value for money".

"Well organised, support around the HM course was encouraging, nice touch to include young children handing to hand out water. Lots of volunteers helping out. Parking in the collage was a big plus. Free photos of the event to share is nice. Daughters have asked can they take part again next year".

​​Raise money for charity

Our official charity for 2020 is Springhill Hospice. The Rochdale-based charity provides care for people with life-limiting illnesses and in 2019 the event helped to raise over £8,000 for the hospice.

You're welcome to raise money for any other charity or cause of your choice and you can easily set up a web page to collect your donations through websites including
JustGiv​​​ing, G​​oFundMe or
GoGetFunding

Tips for fundraising

Many BMW Williams Rochdale Half Marathon, 10K and Fun Run participants run for a good cause. Running for charity can give you that extra motivation for your training and also on the day itself. You'll also notice the extra encouragement you'll receive from spectators. As your training begins and you start your charity fundraising, here are some tips to help you raise lots of money:

Set up an online fundraising page early. Setting up a page as soon as you register will help you raise hundreds of pounds more that someone who leaves it all to the last few weeks.

Set a fundraising target.

Be social media savvy - using social media channels are a great opportunity to maximise fundraising potential.

Download a fundraising app to your mobile phone. This will make it much easier to collect donations wherever you are.

Frequently Asked Questions

Temporary road closures

For safety reasons, some road closures will be in place on Sunday, 4 October 2020 between 10am-2pm. Motorists are advised to make alternative arrangements in advance if they need to exit any of the closed areas by car on the day. Plans will be put in place for access by the emergency services.